From the Chairman …

We finish the season in style with the Brahms symphony.
When I have been looking for extra players to fill gaps caused by illness etc I
had only to mention this symphony and they were hooked. In addition we
have the treat of a fine but less well known Delius work with the splendid
Leland Chen as soloist, and two extremely colourful works to start with.
Sam Draper, our Bob Harding Bursary holder will conduct the Balakirev at his
final Ferneham Hall concert but don’t forget he will conduct the whole of
the Hayling Island concert on September 24. The audition to select his
successor takes place on 8 July and I hope to see many Friends of the
Orchestras there to enjoy the competition (and Beryl’s wonderful
food).

Last Sunday the Friends organised another delightful Garden
Party at Margaret and Geoff Prout’s beautiful home. This raised
nearly £400 for the Orchestras and we are extremely grateful to Margaret
and Geoff, to Geoff Porter the Friends’ Secretary, to Stuart Reed (HSO
2nd violin) and his Cool Classics Quintet who added so much to the atmosphere
of the afternoon and to everyone else who made it such a success.

You will have seen next season’s programme by now and I
hope you agree there is plenty of music in it worthy of our 50th season.
David Willetts, MP for Havant has agreed to become the Society’s
President for the season and we shall soon have news of others who will help us
to celebrate our anniversary.

Meanwhile, Margaret Packe, our Tickets Secretary, tells me
that Season Ticket numbers are coming along well. This really is one of
the best ways to support us and if you can’t attend a concert you are
encouraged to pass your ticket to someone else – which could well result in
another Season Ticket Holder!

My 1000 miles walking for the Havant Orchestras has nearly
reached 600 miles and over £400. You can still add your name to the
list if you wish at the Friends’ table on Saturday.

I hope you all enjoy the concert, have a good summer and come
back eager for more music in the autumn.

Tony Gutteridge
(023 9247 4681 or acg@waitrose.com)

Saturday 2 July – Music and Events

6.30

Pre-concert talk in the Auditorium by David Goodall – on
DELIUS’ Violin Concerto

approx end of the concertandPlease join us in the Bar to Celebrate the end of this season –
AND the anticipation of the next!

Bon voyage & see you again soon!

Notes from the Conductor …

First a note on our performance of Brahms’ 2nd Symphony
….

Part of the Classical Period tradition was that it repeated the first section
of the opening movement (the Exposition – wherein all the main themes were
initially exposed). Hearing these themes twice meant that the listener
could follow their tortuous progress throughout the next section (the
Development) more readily. When the third and final section (the
Recapitulation) was reached, the themes were brought back, usually in their
pristine form but occasionally changed in the light of Development.

Brahms, being the Romantic-Classic that he was, followed the tradition in his
first three symphonies, but not in the fourth. However, it could be
argued that his themes are so distinctive and usually symphonically evolving
that the Exposition repeat is not really needed and the form and flow of the
movement is more coherent without this artificial back-tracking. It is
for this reason that I decided NOT to adhere to regular Brahms’
performance tradition which usually plays this repeat in Symphony No 2, but to
omit those five extra minutes and move on directly to the Development section –
which Brahms engineered so beautifully. Additionally here, when the
composer brings back his material in the Recapitulation it is oddly more or
less identical with its first hearing – save for some key adjustments.
Had we had the Exposition repeat, then we would have heard the same material
thrice, and unchanged.

Now, rather than shortfall the length of your listening, I
decided to add a brief extra work at the beginning of the concert to make up
for it. This is the high-spirited ‘Marche francaise’ or
‘Joyeuse marche’ of Chabrier which engages all the participants
used elsewhere in the concert. When this fizzy, pot-boiler was first
performed in 1888 it was linked with a companion piece – the Prélude
pastoral – which seems to have disappeared totally off the map. We shall
thus get the concert off with a smiling launch – much better than starting from
‘cold’ with the down-to-earth and more serious folk tones of the
Balakirev which Sam Draper will conduct.

Maybe the Chabrier will help settle the tuning, ensemble and
balance ready for Sam in the Balakirev, as well as jollying us all
up!

The lovely Delius Violin Concerto which follows the Balakirev
is an equally tough assignment but in a different way. The solo part
which dominates the whole length of the work with scant relief is extremely
flexible bar-by-bar and the level of concentration from the accompanying forces
will need to be extremely high. The prospect of performing this work with
such a wonderfully toned and expressive violinist of the calibre of Leland Chen
is mouth-watering! Such beautiful sounds.

Having burbled on at length about the programme, there
isn’t enough room to acknowledge by name those extra players and more
regular guests who complete our orchestra on Saturday. We extend our
grateful thanks to all of them and hope they will enjoy their
evening.

May we look forward to seeing you all again next season - the
50th Anniversary of HSO.

Lots of fun and festivities in store …

Peter Craddock

UPBEAT CLUB! at 6.30

Hello all Young (and young-at-heart) Concert Attenders!

I am looking forward to seeing you all at Upbeat Club’s Surprise
Meeting on Saturday in the Meon Room. All will be revealed at
6.30pm.

CDs for Sale (3)

Browse in the Meon Room before the concert, at the interval
and afterwards!

10% to Orchestra Funds

Brochures for 2011-12

We have a large stock of brochures waiting for homes.
Please offer to distribute some so that next season can be enjoyed by very many
more music-lovers – who don’t already know about our exciting PROGRAMMES,
wonderful SOLOISTS and amazing ORCHESTRAS!

There will be copies at Ferneham Hall on Saturday – or leave
your name and we’ll arrange delivery.

Many Thanks

Formal Notice of AGM

The 43rd Annual General Meeting of Havant and District Orchestral Society
will take place on Friday 9 September 2011 at 7.00pm
at St Faith’s Church Hall, The Pallant,
Havant

Agendas & Annual Financial Reports are available from the
Secretary or at the hall on the night. All Orchestral Society Members,
Playing and Non-playing, including Season Ticket Holders, are eligible
and welcome to attend.

Refreshments will be served and the evening will conclude with
a rehearsal to which all Non-playing members are invited.

Places are available on the Committee and nominations for
election may be sent to the Chairman in advance (with the names of candidate,
proposer and seconder) or submitted at the meeting.

(Our AGMs usually last about 1 hour so there is plenty of
time for the music!)